“I have not the slightest doubt that Shakspeare’s Cleopatra is the real historical Cleopatra — the “Rare Egyptian” — individualized and placed before us. Her mental accomplishments, her unequalled grace, her woman’s wit and woman’s wiles, her irresistible allurements, her starts of irregular grandeur, her bursts of ungovernable temper, her vivacity of imagination, her petulant caprice, her fickleness and her falsehood, her tenderness and her truth, her childish susceptibility to flattery, her magnificent spirit, her royal pride, the gorgeous Eastern colouring of the character; all these contradictory elements has Shakspeare seized, mingled them in their extremes, and fused them into one brilliant impersonation of classified elegance, Oriental voluptuousness, and gypsy sorcery.

What better proof can we have of the individual truth of the character than the admission that Shakspeare’s Cleopatra produces exactly the same effect on us that is recorded of the real Cleopatra? She dazzles our faculties, perplexes our judgement, bewilders and bewitches our fancy; from the beginning to the end of the drama, we are conscious of a kind of fascination against which our moral sense rebels, but from which there is no escape. The epithets applied to her perpetually by Antony and others confirm this impression: “enchanting queen!” — “witch” — “spell” — “great fairy” — “cockatrice” — “serpent of old Nile” — “thou gjave charm!” are only a few of them; and who does not know by heart the famous quotations in which this Egyptian Circe is described with all her infinite seductions?”

From The Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 7. Ed. Evangeline Maria O’Connor. J.D. Morris and Co.

MANY YEARS ago a struggling young artist in Paris was so poor that he could not buy a canvas on which to paint. Walking along the quays one day, he saw that an old painting of Napoleon III was for sale for a few sous. He bought it thinking he could remove the painting and use the canvas for his own work. As he cleaned off the surface paint, to his amazement he found another picture underneath. Examining it closely, he thought it looked like a fine Corot. Immediately he sought out experts, who verified that the painting was indeed a genuine Corot. His days of poverty were instantly over. His financial future was assured.

At the surface of life many people present imperfect images: lack in harmony, limitations and disease. These are the overlays resulting from past experiences and the opinions and beliefs of both individual and collective consciousness, which people have accepted. These are also the other people’s projections over the Self.

The story, told by Emmet Fox, is metaphorical of the nature of our real InnerPower, our true beauty. The world will never see another human being like you. There is no one on the face of the planet that has what you have. Your uniqueness, in every respect, is your gift and your power.

“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the first female British Prime Minister

“The illusion is a learning vechile. It is of the personality. You will leave the illusion behind when you die, when you return home. Yet a personality that lives in Love and Light, that sees through the eyes of its soul, metaphorically speaking, can see the illusion and simultaneously not be drawn into it. This is an authentically empowered personality.”